Assessing Early Impact of the Hear Her® Communication Campaign

Abstract

The Hear Her communication campaign was launched nationally in August 2020 to raise awareness of urgent maternal warning signs during and after pregnancy and improve communication between patients and their health care providers. To assess aided campaign awareness during early implementation, an internet panel survey was conducted a month after the campaign launch (Wave 1) with a follow-up survey 7 months later (Wave 2). The survey was fielded nationwide with enhanced recruitment for respondents in the campaign’s priority markets: Atlanta, Dallas, New Orleans, New York, and St. Louis. Aided campaign awareness increased 14.2 percentage points overall among pregnant and postpartum survey participants between waves, with the highest increase in awareness among non-Hispanic Black pregnant and postpartum survey participants (19.8 percentage points). Among Wave 2 survey respondents, those aware of the campaign were more likely to search for information when something did not feel right (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 1.05), discuss concerns with someone close (aPR = 1.14), or desire more information from their health care provider on pregnancy-related complications or warning signs and symptoms (aPR = 1.62)—after adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, education, geographical location (residence in campaign’s priority markets for media buys), and household income. These findings suggest that aided awareness of the Hear Her campaign increased among pregnant and postpartum survey participants in the first 7 months of the campaign and was associated with outcomes the campaign may influence. This study provides considerations for measuring outcomes associated with implementation of Hear Her and similar campaigns.

Keywords

Hear Her pregnancy-related complications postpartum media campaigns communication campaigns maternal mortality

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